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President's Innovation Seed Fund

President’s Innovation Seed Fund accepting proposals until March 17

Communications, Public Affairs & Marketing

Mar 11/11

Do you have a great idea for a program that could generate revenue or reduce operating costs at Laurier? The President’s Innovation Seed Fund (PISF) is accepting proposals until March 17 for innovative programs that can positively benefit Laurier’s future.

Established in 2009 as a pilot project with an opening balance of $200,000, the fund provides seed money to initiate ideas and help them become self-sustaining programs. This is the fifth round of the PISF.

“The quality and innovative nature of the proposals received to date has been tremendous,” said Steve Farlow, chair of the fund’s implementation committee and executive director of Laurier’s Schlegel Centre for Entrepreneurship. “We encourage faculty, staff and students to submit more ideas in this current round of funding.”

Successful projects have ranged from an English as a Second Language program that generates revenue while attracting international students to Laurier, to a summer acceleration program that increases the number of college transfer students recruited by Laurier Brantford.

The review committee, which consists of a representative mix of faculty and staff from various departments and campuses across the university, will begin considering this latest round of proposals starting March 18.

“The committee brings a great amount of diversity to the discussions, from management and faculty members, student affairs, finance and academic departments, and it’s a multi-campus committee,” said Dan Dawson, a committee member and assistant vice-president of Student Services. “Our discussions have been quite lively and bring a lot of creativity and perspective into the analysis of the business proposals.”

Applicants whose concept proposals are approved will be invited to submit a business plan. Assistance is available to help craft the business plan.

The fund recently sponsored a live stream of the TEDxWaterloo conference, which was beamed to Laurier’s Waterloo and Brantford campuses, its Toronto office, the Faculty of Social Work in downtown Kitchener and Laurier’s academic space in the Communitech Hub.

*Please note that the President’s Innovation Seed Fund is separate and distinct from the Strategic Investment Fund.